Praise for Lee & Jackson

Chuck Baldwin

[COMMENT: I am no expert on the war between the
states, but, though raised in the North, I have swung much more toward sympathy
for the Southern cause, mostly because I think there were many faults in the
North which compromised their moral stature.

Much of that I learned when I listened to 30 tapes by Steve
Wilkins, a southern Presbyterian pastor, on
America: the First 350 Years. He ends with some comments on the
War which opened my mind to a wholly new perspective. I am hardly
settled on the matter, but the South was not the only villain in the picture.
Not by a long shot. The piece below touches on some of that.

Whether the Hand of God was behind the death of Stonewall
Jackson, I have no idea. He was killed by a stray bullet from one of his
own troops, apparently.

The War was a beginning of a drift toward more centralization
of government, fueled, as always, by the war in general, and by the refusal to
allow the South to depart in peace. I suspect economic issues were as much
at the heart of Northern motives as was the elimination of slavery, especially
among the New England industrial class, who apparently hated the South.

January
is often referred to as "Generals Month" since no less than fourfamous
Confederate Generals claimed January as their birth month: JamesLongstreet
(Jan. 8, 1821), Robert E. Lee (Jan. 19, 1807), Thomas Jonathan"Stonewall"
Jackson (Jan. 21, 1824), and George Pickett (Jan. 28, 1825). Twoof these
men, Lee and Jackson, are particularly noteworthy.

Without question,
Robert E. Lee and "Stonewall" Jackson were two of thegreatest military
leaders of all time. Even more, many military historiansregard the Lee and
Jackson tandem as perhaps the greatest battlefield duo inthe history of
warfare. If Jackson had survived the battle ofChancellorsville, it is very
possible that the South would have prevailed atGettysburg and perhaps would
even have won the War Between the States.

In fact, it was Lord Roberts,
commander-in-chief of the British armies inthe early twentieth century, who
said, "In my opinion, Stonewall Jackson wasone of the greatest natural
military geniuses the world ever saw. I will goeven further than that--as a
campaigner in the field, he never had asuperior. In some respects, I
doubt whether he ever had an equal."

While the strategies and
circumstances of the War of Northern Aggression can(and will) be debated by
professionals and laymen alike, one fact isundeniable: Robert E. Lee and
Thomas J. Jackson were two of the finestChristian gentlemen this country has
ever produced. Both their character andtheir conduct were beyond reproach.

Unlike his northern counterpart, Ulysses S. Grant, General Lee never
sanctioned or condoned slavery. Upon inheriting slaves from his deceased
father-in-law, Lee immediately freed them. And according to historians,
Jackson enjoyed a familial relationship with those few slaves that were in
his home. In addition, unlike Abraham Lincoln and U.S. Grant, there is no
record of either Lee or Jackson ever speaking disparagingly of the black
race.

As those who are familiar with history know, General Grant and his
wife heldpersonal slaves before and during the War Between the States, and,
contraryto popular opinion, even Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation did not
freethe slaves of the North. They were not freed until the Thirteenth
Amendmentwas passed after the conclusion of the war. Grant's excuse for not
freeinghis slaves was that "good help is so hard to come by these days."

Furthermore, it is well established that Jackson regularly conducted a
Sunday School class for black children. This was a ministry he took very
seriously. As a result, he was dearly loved and appreciated by the children
and their parents.

In addition, both Jackson and Lee emphatically
supported the abolition ofslavery. In fact, Lee called slavery "a moral and
political evil." He alsosaid "the best men in the South" opposed it and
welcomed its demise. Jacksonsaid he wished to see "the shackles struck from
every slave."

To think that Lee and Jackson (and the vast majority of
Confederatesoldiers) would fight and die to preserve an institution they
consideredevil and abhorrent--and that they were already working to
dismantle--is theheight of absurdity. It is equally repugnant to impugn and
denigrate thememory of these remarkable Christian gentlemen.

In fact,
after refusing Abraham Lincoln's offer to command the Union Army in1861,
Robert E. Lee wrote to his sister on April 20 of that year to explainhis
decision. In the letter he wrote, "With all my devotion to the Union andthe
feeling of loyalty and duty of an American citizen, I have not been ableto
make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, myhome.
I have therefore resigned my commission in the army and save indefense of my
native state, with the sincere hope that my poor services maynever be needed
. . ."

Lee's decision to resign his commission with the Union Army must
have beenthe most difficult decision of his life. Remember that Lee's direct
ancestors had fought in America's War For Independence. His father, "Light
Horse Harry" Henry Lee, was a Revolutionary War hero, Governor of Virginia,
and member of Congress. In addition, members of his family were signatories
to the Declaration of Independence.

Remember, too, that not only did
Robert E. Lee graduate from West Point "atthe head of his class" (according
to Benjamin Hallowell), he is yet todayone of only six cadets to graduate
from that prestigious academy without asingle demerit.

However, Lee
knew that Lincoln's decision to invade the South in order toprevent its
secession was both immoral and unconstitutional. As a man ofhonor and
integrity, the only thing Lee could do was that which his fatherhad done:
fight for freedom and independence. And that is exactly what hedid.

Instead of allowing a politically correct culture to sully the memory of
Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. Jackson, all Americans should hold them in a
place of highest honor and respect. Anything less is a disservice to history
and a disgrace to the principles of truth and integrity.

Accordingly, it
was more than appropriate that the late President GeraldFord, on August 5,
1975, signed Senate Joint Resolution 23, "restoringposthumously the long
overdue, full rights of citizenship to General RobertE. Lee." According to
President Ford, "This legislation corrects a 110-yearoversight of American
history." He further said, "General Lee's characterhas been an example to
succeeding generations . . ."

The significance of the lives of Generals
Lee and Jackson cannot beovervalued. While the character and influence of
most of us will barely beremembered two hundred days after our departure,
the sterling character ofthese men has endured for two hundred years. What a
shame that so many ofAmerica's youth are being robbed of knowing and
studying the virtue andintegrity of the great General Robert E. Lee and
General Thomas J."Stonewall" Jackson.